The invention pertains to apparatus for housing electrical connections and/or other electrical components. Particular embodiments of the invention have application housing terminal connectors for telephone, cable television and/or other telecommunications lines.
In the telecommunications industry, it is often necessary to electrically connect and/or reconfigure connections by way of which telecommunications signals are provided to subscribers. Such connections may have to be made or to be reconfigured to provide service to one or more subscribers in a building, a group of buildings or individual units within a building.
It is desirable to provide a plurality of relatively easily replaceable, interchangeable and reconfigurable connections in a single location (for a particular building, for example), such that connections and/or changes to connections may be made with a minimum effort. A device capable of providing one or more electrical connections is referred to herein as a xe2x80x9cterminal connectorxe2x80x9d.
There is a general desire to locate terminal connectors in weather resistant housings which may be conveniently located in outdoor locations, such that connections may be made, changed and/or reconfigured by service technicians of telecom companies or other service providing organizations without having to enter buildings.
A junction box for receiving electrical cables and for housing electrical components is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a base member having a recessed region and a lid member positionable over the recessed region of the base member to form an enclosure. The lid member and the base member are coupleable on one side by one or more hinges and on a side opposite the one or more hinges by a clasp assembly. The clasp assembly is capable of being locked and unlocked by two independent locking mechanisms.
A plurality of concentric lower flanges may extend from a lower surface of the base member, such that a first cable conduit may be slidably engaged to one of the plurality of lower flanges.
A plurality of concentric upper flanges may extend from an upper surface of the base member, such that a second cable conduit may be slidably engaged to one of the plurality upper flanges. One or more upper knock-out elements may be located on the upper surface of the base member inside a diameter of the outermost one of the plurality of concentric upper flanges. The one or more upper knock-out elements may be removable from the base member to form an upper aperture therein, such that a cable may extend from an interior of the second cable conduit through the upper aperture and into the enclosure.
Further features and applications of the invention are described below.